Seahawks coast 50-13

August 30, 2014

It's not on a stat sheet, a game film or any other traditional football place.

Instead, the best indicator of the prowess of the Cape Coral defense at the outset of the 2014 season is on the face of the signature player on offense, quarterback Dylan Bontrager.

The senior signal-caller had plenty of reasons to smile in Friday night's curtain-raiser agains East Lee County, a 50-13 laugher at Dave Warkentin Field, and nearly all of them were made possible by a ball-stopping unit that seems poised to give him recurring grins between now and November.

"It's great. Knowing that we actually have a defense. It's awesome," Bontrager said. "There's no pressure on the offense whatsoever, knowing that we have a defense that will get the job done."

To say it did so against the Jaguars would be an all-star caliber understatement.

The Seahawk defense was on the field for 31 plays in the first half and held East Lee County to no gains or losses on 23 of them, creating a chasm of 375 total yards (hosts 346, visitors minus-29) by intermission.

The Jaguars didn't manage the first of their two first-half first downs until the 2:30 mark of the second quarter, by which time the score was already 34-7. East Lee County's points came on a 95-yard kickoff return after Cape's third score and Bontrager was approaching his late-August bliss.

Visiting quarterback Eric Minns, on the other hand, was frequently running for his life thanks to the presence of Seahawks linebacker MiCario Stanley, whose arrival from South Fort Myers has created a noticeable swagger that extends all the way to hi head coach Larry Gary.

"We're pretty good. Yeah, we're pretty good," Gary said. "Our linebackers and secondary, they're the strong point of our defense. Our front line, they just have to not do much, just keep people off us."

The 6-foot-2, 240-pound Stanley, a junior who's committed to the University of South Florida, enrolled at Cape High after his family moved this year. The perpetual pre-snap charges toward the line of scrimmage by both he and teammate Colin Loethen against the Jaguars forced an endless loop of quickened handoffs, rushed throws and a tangible feeling of discomfort whenever they had the ball.

It's a sign, he said, of what ought to be expected all season long.

"We play fast. That's how we do our job," Stanley said. "Coach Gary said I was the missing piece. And we're gonna be here every week. Teams are gonna have to deal with us."

Bontrager finished 9-of-16 for 182 yards and four touchdowns, along with a 12-yard run for a score, before being lifted for backup Elliot Pierce in the second half, which was played with a running clock.